


Having his back

by dont_hate_me01



Series: Brothers [1]
Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: Bravo team - Freeform, Brotherly Love, Gen, Hidden Injuries, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 00:53:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18110000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dont_hate_me01/pseuds/dont_hate_me01
Summary: Clay Spenser was Brian Armstrong’s best friend, but he has the ability to drive him up the wall. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to take care of Clay by himself for much longer, he approaches someone from Bravo Team for assistance.





	Having his back

**Author's Note:**

> **AN 1:** First of all, thank you to [jane_x80](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_x80) for the beta work on this story!  
>  **AN 2:** This story takes place after the pilot episode, **Tip of the spear**. It’s something that got stuck in my head and since my muse was kind enough to let me pen it down it finally saw the light. It is also slightly AU.  
> Fair warning, I don’t like the character Ash Spenser and although I’ve only seen the first three episodes of season 2, I am aware that he’s stirring for trouble.  
>  **AN 3:** There will be other one-shot stories. They will all involve Bravo Team as a family unit, more especially being a group of other the top concerned brothers to Clay. There will be brotherly moments, angst and of course, loads of hurt Clay.  
> 

Trent frowned at the text on his phone. For a moment he wanted to ignore it, but knew he wouldn’t be able to do that. He took the last swig of his drink and got to his feet. Luckily, he only had one beer.

“Where’re you going?” Brock asked his best friend.

“Going back to the base.” He offered no other explanation.

Brock sighed. “You know I hate it when you’re so cryptic.”

Trent shook his head. “I wasn’t cryptic.”

“Yeah, you were.” Brock grinned. He loved to joke with the medic of their group. “You’ve got such a wonderful way with words.”

Trent rolled his eyes. “One of these days I’m going to shoot you, Brock. I promise you.” He grabbed his wallet and keys from the table. He waited patiently for his friend. Trent sighed when Brock stayed seated.

“Are you waiting for a written invite?”

“Oh, so I can actually come with you?” Brock came to his feet. He looked around and found Cerberus under the table. “Let’s go.” He didn’t have to wait for long before their four-legged team mate stood next to him.

Trent ignored Brock’s question as he sauntered out of the bar. He and Brock had gone out for drinks on their own. A fact that he was happy about as he didn’t need to explain why he was heading back to base.

“You gonna tell me what we’re going to do on base?” Brock asked as he got into Trent’s truck. Cerberus had already climbed in and was seated on the back seat.

Trent sighed and removed his phone. “Read this for yourself.”

Brock took the phone and read the text. “Brian Armstrong?” He looked at Trent. “The Green team guy?”

Trent nodded. “I don’t know another Brian Armstrong.”

“Where did he get your number?”

Trent sighed. “Brock, I’ve got no fucking clue, but I can promise you, that’s a question I am going to ask him.”

“Okay.” Brock read the message again. “It’s almost as cryptic as you.” He held up his hands when Trent glared at him. “Sorry, brother.” He apologized with a smile.

Trent shook his head. He knew Brock was right about one thing. The text was indeed very cryptic. He didn’t think it meant anything sinister, but it was still a bit weird.

“You gonna tell Jason?”

“No. First want to find out what it is about.” He wouldn’t keep it from Jason, but he needed more information. Their team leader had the ability to ask question upon question. He would’ve made a great lawyer if it wasn’t for the fact that he was a Navy SEAL.

“Any ideas?” Brock handed Trent his phone back as they came to a halt at base security.

Trent shook his head. “But I think we’re about to find out.” He indicated with his head to where the author of the text stood next to the parking bays. Trent parked his truck and both men and the dog got out.

Before he could speak up, Armstrong beat him to it. “I’m sorry. I normally don’t go around and text people weird messages, but he’s driving me up the wall.” A faint blush appeared on his freckled face. “And you’ve got no idea what I’m talking about.” He looked down at his watch. “I don’t have much time, but I wanted to give you this.” He handed Trent a thick file.

Trent took the file and flipped it open. He frowned when he read the top page. “Why do you have this? Where did you get this? More importantly, why are you giving this to me?” Trent tilted the file so that Brock could read what he did. The file puzzled him so much, he didn’t even ask Armstrong where he got his number from.

Brian sighed. “You deserve those answers.” He didn’t look at either of them, but merely lowered himself to the ground. Without waiting for either of them to sit down, Brian spoke again.

“I’ve known Clay Spenser for the past six years. He’d just turned twenty-one at that stage. We met in BUDS. He was so self-assured; fuck, he grated my nerves. But he still became my best friend.” Brian lowered his head. “It was then that I realized something.” His voice went lower. “Clay had no idea what it was to be part of a family. He didn’t grasp the concept of trusting those around you. To him, you could only trust yourself.”

Brian shook his head and looked up. “That’s not the case anymore. Now he’s a team player. You’ve seen that. You just got back from being spun up. He’ll have your back at any time of the day.”

“I don’t want to sound rude, but I still don’t understand this.” Brock indicated to the file in Trent’s hands.

“He hides his injuries.” Trent spoke up after he’d scanned through a few pages in the file. A thick medical file on Clay Spenser. All of the reports read more or less the same. _Injured two days ago... Injured while on a mission…_ Trent growled when Brian nodded in agreement. He showed the most recent page to Brock. “He reported to the infirmary a few hours back. Knife wound to the side.”

“Correction. _I_ took him to the infirmary. He would never willingly report to the infirmary, or to any other doctor for that matter. He doesn’t trust them.” Brian came to his feet. He looked at his watch again. “I can’t go into detail and if he knew I’d given you that he would kill me. Most likely literally. But I don’t have a choice. Selection into the DEVGRU squadrons are around the corner. I know that Bravo team will choose him. You guys will be stupid not to. He is the best. I need someone to have his back, because I won’t be there. The fact that you’re also the best medic in all of DEVGRU made this so much easier. I know you will have his back. Bravo team will have his back.”

“What makes you think he’ll trust me? Or Bravo team for that matter?” Trent closed the file and stared at Brian.

Brian sighed. “Because when he came back, he couldn’t stop grinning. He couldn’t stop telling me how good it was to work with a team like Bravo team. As for trust? He’ll learn to trust you. You just need to be patient.”

Brian indicated again to the file. “That’s a copy. When final selections have been made, I’ll make sure you get the original. It’s got everything I could get my hands on in regards to his medical history. He might be seen as royalty around here, but he had a shitty childhood. It’s in there. You’ll figure that out for yourself. All that I’m asking is that you take care of him. Please.” Brian looked at them both. He nodded once and before either man could ask a question he sprinted off.

“You gonna let him go?” Brock asked.

Trent shook his head. “No. But I’m not going to run after him. We know where he’s going.” He tucked the file under his arm and started off in the direction Armstrong went.

“You’re not going to say anything?” Brock asked.

“No. I’m being cryptic.” Trent smiled as Brock groaned. They walked in silence until they reached the infirmary. Trent took the lead as they entered the building. They walked through different hallways until they reached a room. The door stood halfway open.

“Stop being so over dramatic, Brian, it’s just a scratch.”

“Just a scratch? No scratch that I’ve ever seen required stitches, Clay. Fifteen stitches. Fifteen. Have you counted them, because I have. I’ll repeat the number. Fifteen.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Damn it, Clay. It’s not nothing. We’ve been over this before. You can’t hide your injuries.”

“I didn’t hide it. I took care of it myself.”

“Taking care of it yourself doesn’t mean you told someone, Clay. You know that.” Brian sounded unhappy.

“There wasn’t time.” Clay responded.

Brian huffed. “Really, that’s what you’re going to go with? There wasn’t time? I might not be informed of what had taken place on the mission, Clay, but I can tell you one thing. There was definitely time to tell someone that you got stabbed with a fucking knife.” Brian hissed.

“Listen. I don’t want to go through this with you. It’s stitched up. Can we please go back to the barracks? Master Chief Seaver will have my ass if I’m late again.”

Brian sighed. “You’ve got the aftercare instructions?”

It was Clay’s turn to sigh. “I know how to take care of a knife wound, Brian.”

“Yeah, and don’t I know it.” Brian moved towards the door. “Let’s get going.” He walked side by side his best friend as they exited the room. Neither saw the two SEALS that stood at the other end of the hallway.

“Spenser took a knife to the side in the tunnel.” Brock hissed. He’d finally put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

Trent nodded. “When Jason thought the tunnel was cleared and Spenser found the creep lurking around and took him out.”

“I thought it was only Spenser who had a knife.”

Trent shook his head. “I’ve got a feeling there was only one knife, but that it wasn’t Spenser’s to begin with.”

“He didn’t show any sign of being injured.”

Trent shook his head again. “I don’t think he ever does.”

“Let me get this straight. I’m struggling to wrap my head around this.” Brock dragged his hand through his longish curled hair. “He goes into the tunnel, finds a guard lurking around. Gets involved in a knife fight. Gets stabbed, kills the guard. Finds Jason and Ray, takes the shot that rids the world of Abu Samir. Gets onto Jason’s shit list. Exfils with us on the helo. Gets grabbed by Jason when we land and shook around before being chewed out. Sits through the after-action review with us. Packs up, gets back onto the C-130 and lands here and only after being here for more than eighteen-hours does he get medical treatment for something that required fifteen stitches.” He looked at Trent. “Fuck me.”

“You’ve got one thing wrong.” Trent looked at Brock. When Brock frowned, he continued. “He didn’t seek medical treatment. Armstrong brought him in.”

“Yes, that minor detail that’s responsible for the file you’ve got in your hand.” Brock shook his head. “What now?”

“Now, I’m going to sit and read this.”

“You serious?” Brock frowned.

“Yes. What did you want me to do?” Trent walked towards the exit.

Brock shrugged. “Not sure.”

“Well, I am.”

****

**\---SEAL TEAM---**

When his watch beeped, Trent leaned back in his chair. They had stayed up throughout the night to read the file. He looked at where Brock read through the last page before he placed it down on the table between them. Trent knew the look he saw on Brock’s face was the same identical look he had on his own.

“Just how many times can a kid _fall out of a tree_ before that reason becomes a suspicion?” Brock rose to his feet and made his way over to the kitchen. They needed coffee, then hot showers and then they needed to get back on base. For once, he was grateful that they were not deployed.

“Apparently more than ten times.” Trent’s voice sounded gruff. His hands itched to hit something, more specifically someone. He could even put a name to that someone. Ash fucking Spenser. He knew Brock felt the same as the man had cursed more than once during the night as they read up on Spenser’s medical history.

Ash Spenser had been a Tier One Operator. He was supposed to protect the vulnerable. Yet, he had failed. Instead, it was clear from what they read, that he had physically abused Clay as a child. No child fell from a tree so many times like Clay did. Trent was disappointed in the Navy that something like that was never picked up. Trent knew Brock wouldn’t hesitate to let Cerberus have a bite or two out of Ash.

“Why was it never picked up?” Brock voiced Trent’s inner thoughts out loud.

“Easy.” Trent rose to his own feet. He accepted the coffee Brock passed to him. “They moved around a lot. And when the first real questions got asked, he was shipped off to his grandparents in Liberia.”

“And when he came back, the excuses changed from falling out of a tree to being a clumsy teenager.” Brock shook his head. “It’s no wonder the kid doesn’t trust anyone.”

“He trusts Armstrong.” Trent reminded him, but he also agreed with Brock’s statement. Clay Spenser had no one he could trust on when he was a child. It was no wonder that he struggled with the concept of being a team player.

Brock nodded. “What are you going to do?”

Trent walked back to the living room, picked up the file and held it in his hand. “I’m going to hold onto this. I’m going to make sure that Armstrong gets me copies of all future medical issues Spenser may experience until selections have been made and, in the meantime, I’m going to do everything in my power to get Jason to pick Clay for Bravo Team.”

“You then going to inform Jason about all this?” Brock asked as he indicated to the medical file.

Trent nodded. “I’m going to tell the whole team. And then I’m going to print out a photo of Ash’s face and pinned it against every punching bag Sonny uses, because I can promise you, he’s going to explode in anger.”

“Jason and Ray will not be far behind.” Brock commented. He took a sip of his coffee. “Neither myself nor you for that matter.”

“You’ve got that in one, brother. This kid needs to have someone at his back, Brock. He needs to realize what it means to be part of a team. To have a band of brothers that will never let him down. He needs us. He needs Bravo team to have his back.”

Brock nodded. “I don’t see anything wrong with that, Trent. Nothing at all.” He slapped his best friend on the back. “Let’s get going, we’ve got a lot of things that we need to do today. Including a group of brothers that we need to convince that we’re in need of one more brother. A much younger brother, but a brother none the less.”

Trent hummed in agreement. He had a feeling that the moment they find out about Clay Spenser’s past, Jason would have no problem in picking the young SEAL for Bravo Team. After that, Ash Spenser should make sure he stayed away from Clay. Not one of them would hesitate in protecting Clay, because that was what they did. They looked after one another.

**THE END**


End file.
